Nominated in: 1952
Did it win? No (the Oscar went to An American in Paris)
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “I have always relied on the kindness of strangers” – Vivien Leigh
This is the first Watchfl blog post, my personal journey toward cinematic enlightenment. The goal is to watch every Oscar nominee for “best picture” ever made – 80 years of movies. For more on that, please read About Watchful.
I wanted to start things off strong with a movie I’ve always been embarrassed about not having seen: A Streetcar Named Desire. Tennessee Williams plays are so awesomely dysfunctional and disturbing, and I’ve seen some of the classic clips (“Stellllaaaaaa!”) so I figured it would be great and I was right.
Streetcar tells the story of Blanche DuBois, a washed-up debutante who comes to stay in the French Quarter of New Orleans with her sister, Stella, and Stella’s working-class husband, Stanley. The sisters come from high Southern society, but Stanley is a boorish wife beater. Why is Stella drawn to him? Why couldn’t I pay attention to the other actors when he was onscreen? Ah, Marlon Brando.
Stanley points out right away that the details around Blanche’s arrival are patchy – she claims the family mansion has been “lost” but gives no further details. She seems jumpy and unstable, but Stella refuses to see questionable character traits in anyone she loves. Blanche overstays her welcome and regularly voices her disapproval of Stanley to the pregnant Stella. Stanley, not used to anything coming between him and Stella, becomes increasingly violent and possessive toward her. There is also a strange, palpable tension between Blanche and Stanley that comes to a head toward the end of the film.
Stanley investigates why Blanche left home and finds out she had an affair with one of her high school students and was fired. We also learn that Blanche’s husband committed suicide at a young age, which clearly created unresolved issues. In the play, his suicide was partially due to confusion and shame over his homosexuality, a theme Tennessee Williams used often but was consistently removed from the film versions by the League of Decency (i.e. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). The movie is less clear; Blanche says only that he was a “poet”.
Stanley is disgusted by Blanche’s hypocrisy as she criticizes him and his home. This rage culminates in his rape of Blanche and her subsequent nervous breakdown. The next time we see Blanche, Stanley and Stella have her picked up and shipped off to a mental institution. Stanley is accused by his poker buddies of “doing this to her”, and we get the impression that Stella secretly believes that too, but can’t bring herself to leave Stanley. Throughout the entire movie Stanley and Stella have an inexplicable, primal chemistry that repels and attracts them simultaneously. Their scenes together are my favorite.
The Stanley and Stella Shouting Contest at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.
Photo: Kerri McCaffety, courtesy Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, from the NPR Web site
This film is one of the greatest examples of ensemble acting I’ve ever seen. Vivien Leigh gives a riveting performance as the mad Blanche and won Best Actress. Her physical manifestations of a mental breakdown are incredible (she does a seizure-type thing at the end that’s stunning). Kim Hunter is a wonderful, subdued Stella – battered and lovesick. Brando is the most real and the most complex – you can’t bring yourself to hate him. He is Stanley while everyone else is just a really good actor. The fact that he was virtually unknown before this film is unbelievable – he tears up the screen.
Many of Streetcar’s themes (homosexuality, family members at odds, sexual tension, madness) are also woven through Williams’ other works. I was interested to learn that Williams’ mother may have had a mood disorder and his sister, Rose, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent much of her life in a mental institution, the “treatment” at that time. Her parents later authorized a prefrontal lobotomy that left her incapacitated, and Williams never forgave them. Most critics say The Glass Menagerie is a representation of his family (Williams = Tom, Rose = Laura).
Streetcar can stand alone, though, as a really well-executed film that stays with you long after it’s over.
